Jamie Chung cast as Chi Chi

The worrying continues about the upcoming Dragonball Z live action film. IF Magazine is reporting that Jamie Chung with be playing Chi Chi, Goku's love interest...

Love interest... I am not sure who has gotten confused about the Dragonball Z storyline, the studio or the people writing the articles. Just the other day they described Piccolo as the villain, and now Chi Chi is Goku's love interest... Chi Chi is Goku's wife and the mother of his son, Gohan.

I can only hope that they are actually making a film out of Dragonball, and they are turning the kids into adults so the audience will not be confused by the back story. I have my fingers crossed.

Charlie Dorsett

My name is Charlie, but if your looking for my work, I go by C. E. Dorsett. I write scifi, fantasy, and a touch of horror. I like to play with gothic, steampunk, decopunk, epic fantasy, and wuxia. I love to tell stories and talk about books, movies, series, and music.

Review: Star Trek

I was a little afraid to see the new Star Trek Movie. All of the materials they sent me to hype the movie either bored or annoyed me. I started getting a little excited about the movie after the early screenings started returning good reviews.
Sitting in the theater as boring trailers, my anticipation ramped up as film crept ever closer. I love Star Trek. It is probably my favorite franchise. I really hoped they wouldn't mess it up.

It took me a while to write this review, because I wanted to make sure I got past my fanboy response to the movie and was able to talk about the movie with a bit more distance and clarity.

Addressing early concerns

Prequel/Sequel/Reboot [reus name="Star Trek iFrame"]

That is a strange thing to say, and alone, a statement that doesn't make sense, but for this film it works.

Sequel

Spock starts on Romulus like he is in the Next Generation

The first Federation uniforms we see are right out of Star Trek Enterprise.

Time travel story

Prequel

Young versions of the characters

Reboot

Establishes an alternate timeline for Star Trek

I am not sure I like the classification of this movie as a reboot. Battlestar Galactica was a reboot, this was more of a return to the core of what made Star Trek great in the original series. If this is a reboot so was:

The Animated Series (added more exotic alien races)

The Motion Picture (changed the Kligons forever)

Wrath of Khan (Brought back the Action/Adventure quality of the series.

Voyage Home (The crew of the Enterprise mess with the timeline)

The Next Generation (updated the series for a new generation of fans)

Deep Space Nine (Star Trek without exploration but with more military elements)

Generations (Kirk is ripped from the timeline)

Voyager (Star Trek without the Federation)

First Contact (The Borg and the crew of the Enterprise mess with the timeline)

Insurrection (The Federation is not perfect)

Enterprise (Star Trek before the Federation without superior technology)

If you would count each of these major revisions of the setting as a reboot, than this movie is a reboot. To me, this sequel/prequel.

Turning Star Trek into Star Wars?

Abrams, Kurtzman anf Orci all said they wanted to turn bring more Star Wars into Star Trek, but I don't think they got there. I love both series, and I am familiar with the main qualities of both, and I don't think they brought much if anything from one to the other.

I was afraid that is was going to be more of a Lethal Weapon in Space, Speed: Warp 10, Star Wars: The Vulcan Chronicles, or Cloverfield 2: The Future of the Beast (WTF Star Trek Super Bowl Ad!?!). There is not a scene in this film that I could see easily fitting in one of the earlier films or the original television series.

Maybe they originally thought of Nero's ship as a sort of Death Star, but it is no more than Probe from The Voyage Home, V'ger from the Motion Picture, or the Son'a ships from Insurrection. Other than that, I just don't get it.

Uhura in her off hours

I was excited when I saw the clip of Uhura telling Kirk off in the bar. I hoped Kirk would get his butt kicked and he so did. I was concerned about the stripping clips of Uhura in the trailers but I love the way the dealt with her.

----------Spoiler Alert!!----------

I loved the relationship between Uhura and Spock. It made sence, and it served to dehumanize Spock in an interesting way. The juxtaposition of her emotions and his total lack of emotions really hilighted the difference between humans and vulcans.

I know there are a lot of people who didn't like her depiction in this movie, but Uhura was always a more laid back member of the crew.

Addressing new concerns after seeing the movie

Kirk's Vaccine reaction

I loved the adverse reaction that Kirk had to the Vaccine that McCoy gave him. It was a flashback to the kind of humor the original series thrived on. It was silly, light hearted and interfered with the characters ability to do what they needed to do.

The Engine Room of Doom!

WTF were they thinking when they designed the engine room. It was funny, but I agree with Gwen DeMarco regarding the fate of the writer who came up with the idea for these scenes...

I could go off on a long string blue words, but I will let the others who have already done that do it. I just thought this was a blemish on an otherwise great film.

Nero's ship armament

Brian and I argued about this fro a long time after the movie. Personally, I think Nero was just a MacGuffin to give an excuse for the story to happen. Neither he nor his crew are intgral to the plot and could have been replaced by anyone else with any other motive using any other means. Nero is not important. They obviously didn't give his subplot any thought, and frankly, the movie would have been better without the distraction.

I wish the film would have had a real 3 dimensional villain, but I honestly didn't expect one from a J. J. Abrams movie. He has never done villains well. Every movie and show that he has ever touch has had a weak, impotent, or flat villain. A better director would have insisted on a better antagonist, but the story didn't matter, the action did.

Kirk's Exile from the Enterprise

Some people have complained about Spock having Kirk put in a life pod and jettisoned from the ship. If I really wanted to defend the movie here I would say that this was a symptom of Spock's frustration that Kirk should not be on the ship at all. I think that could be argued.

Once more, this is another symptom of Abrams' half-assed directing style. He needed to have Kirk on the planet to meet Spock and this was the quickest and most "visually exciting" way to do it. Let's be honest, this was an excuse to have Kirk chased by a Cloverfield reject so he could talk to Spock in a cave. It was not thought out.

Nero's Motives

Nero's motive for attacking Vulcan are nothing less than laughable. He was a stupid man on a stupid ship with the horridly named "Red Matter" who wants to destroy Vulcan rather than save his homeworld.

Maybe he thought he could do both. Rid the Empire of the threat of the Federation and save his homeworld. I think the reallity is a lot simpler.

Like most of the annoying things in this film it just wasn't well thought out. It was a flimsy excuse for a Nero to be a villain and commit a terrorist act without having to think about whether or not he has a good (or at least understandable) reason or not.

Nero is a flat, empty character and I can tell you why. This movie is nothing more than:

Wrath of Khan, take 2

This story follows the plot of Wrath of Khan beat by beat with several notable exceptions:

Nero is not as scary as Khan.

Nero does not have a motive for revenge.

"Red Matter" is not as scary as the Genesis Device.

Wrath of Khan had better writers and director.

This movie is to Wrath of Khan what the Next Generation episode "Naked Now" is to the Original Series episode "Naked Time." It is a good remake, but it is not as good as the original.

Is this Star Trek?

Let's measure it against Gene's definition

√ Action
√ Adventure
√ Basic wants and needs
√ Tackle all of the most important issues of the day.

That last check might be a little controversial, but I thought the show dealt with the random nature of terrorism and the emotional cost it has on people.

Likes

Dislikes

The Engine room

Lack of a serious villain

Nero's Ship

"Red Matter"

The Alien Monster

Kirk's marooning

Rating = 10

The Future of Star Trek

Orci and Kurtzmen have already signed on to write the next movie in the series, but that are not sure if it will be a Prequel, Sequel, or Reboot to this movie. They said they are waiting to see what the reaction to this film is. And there is one more thing:

Kurtzman: The very last scene when Spock and Spock meet each other, finally. And elder Spock is convincing young Spock that he couldn't interfere, because it would have diverted [Kirk and Spock] away from their friendship. And that their friendship is the key to the whole sort of shebang.

Orci: He gave him a recorded message from Kirk.

Kurtzman: He [elder Spock] said, "Don't take my word for it." And he handed him [younger Spock] a little holographic device and it projected Shatner. It was basically a Happy Birthday wish knowing that Spock was going to go off to Romulus, and Kirk would probably be dead by the time... (Topless Robots)

That could be the set up for the next movie. Personally, I don't want another movie. I want a TV series.

Review: Dragonball: Evolution

Review of: Dragonball: Evolution
Overall Rating: 8

Dragon Ball: Evolution is not a great movie, it is not even a good movie but it does do one thing well which is the most important requirement of a movie… it is a really fun movie. This is a niche movie and thus will not appeal to movie goers beyond those in the niche market. For those fans Dragonball: Evolution rocks and I highly recommend watching it in the theaters.

Are you the type of person who will love this movie? If you like silly fun martial arts movies then you will love this movie. If you liked: Bullet Proof Monk, the Mortal Combat movies, speed racer, or the Shaw Brothers films then you will love this movie. If not then this is not a movie for you.

Dragonball: Evolution captures the spirit and feel of Dragonball so brilliantly that we even had a debate whether it would cause some dissent amongst the Dragon Ball Z fans because of the subtle differences between the series.

If you pass the niche test and are debating whether to watch this movie in the theaters or just to rent it I recommend seeing it in the theater. This is one of those movies that really takes advantage of the theater experience giving more depth to the adventure through the rumble boxes and seeing the fights larger than life.

Although the pace is brilliant and they kept the story fun the story is fluff. This movie lacks any deeper meaning or thought educing moments. This is not a requirement for every movie since some times it’s just good to sit back and be entertained but beyond the light message of “believe in yourself” and some enemies can not be overcome with force.

Review: The Day the Earth Stood Still

This is a group review of The Day The Earth Stood Still. Brian, Emerian, and I each watched the movie and developed separate opinions about the film.
As Progressive Speculative Fiction movie:

Overall Rating: 10

I am a huge fan of the original, in fact, it is my favorite SF movie. I was surprised how well they pulled off the remake.

Brian: It’s not very often that I get a chance to write a review of a remake movie where I can give my praises for a job well done. As the final credits began to roll I knew with great joy in my heart they gave me this opportunity with The Day The Earth Stood Still (2008). This movie was a brilliant remake of the classic film, an excellent example of what speculative fiction should be, and poorly promoted film that will unfortunately get it many bad reviews.

I must give my kudos! to Director Scott Derrikson when I read about how he tried to update the movie yet stay true to it’s core message I was very skeptical but he nailed this one and deserves our accolades for a job well done! You can read about his approach in Exploring: The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008).

Emerian: I have never seen the original 1951 version of this movie. I have to assume it had a better ending than this one. When seeing the title The Day The Earth Stood Still I have to wonder if it meant the moment that the credits rolled and everyone in the theater stared motionless at the screen thinking, "Huh?"

Even Roger Ebert, who I usually agree with about SF movies didn’t like the movie. He like many of the reviewers missed the point of the movie. He like most reviewers took the movie as little more than a film with an environmental message, when it is so much more.

The Day The Earth Stood still is an “Idea as Hero” story. The idea behind the story is evolution, and whether or not humankind is capable of evolving before we destroy the all life on earth.

Throughout the film, Klaatu (Keanu Reeves) witnesses the senseless violence humans perpetrate on each other. The vehicle for the idea is Jacob Benson (Jaden Smith) who through out the movie is engrossed in violent video games and who constantly argues that the aliens need to be killed.

Our violence to ourselves, the other animals, and to the world itself is why Klaatu has been sent to earth to preserve a life sustaining world from us.

This message is made clearer when Klaatu and Professor Barnhardt (John Cleese) are talking. Barnhardt argues that people can change, but Klaatu is unmoved. He believes that humankind is too lazy and mired in its ways to even try to change. That is the real question. What would it take for people to be willing to change?

Brian: Speculative Fiction is supposed to ask a “what if.” To be even better it should also maintain the tradition of making a social commentary of some sort and aspire to humankind’s better nature. Star Wars and Star Trek do this brilliantly it is why those franchises inspire it’s fans to be better then what they originally are. The Day The Earth Stood Still classic also did this with it’s warning about humans violent cold war nature in the 50’s. With great pleasure the 2008 remake also does this by asking what if we are not alone in the universe and how would advanced alien societies see humankind’s behavior. The social commentary is that they would view us as a violent, delinquent child who treats each other as poorly as we treat our surrounding environment.

Unfortunately this movie was promoted poorly. Their promotion lead the public to expect an action packed, aliens invade earth and attack us. Kind of like the modern War of the Worlds movie. The actual movie is a much more thoughtful exploration of human nature, with most of the tension occurring in the mind rather than visually. There are some great effects and action sequences but not nearly as much as what should have been. If only they had described the movie like this:

The Day The Earth Stood Still is about how human society lives in a solipsistic state of mind where they treat each other as poorly as they treat their environment and give into their terrible and violent nature. The collection of other alien societies decide that they must save the earth from the humans since there are so few planets in the galaxy that can support complex life forms. Now Helen Benson and her son Jacob must convince Klaatu that humans do have the will to change but only after they are brought to the precipice by a tragedy.

Minor Spoilers between the lines:

Emerian: This film was well cast and I think the majority of the film was worth seeing, but the ending was flat and made little sense. Keanu played a good alien with his emotionless responses. We also get to see him naked and covered with mucus again, which is always a strange but somehow addictive thing to watch. Jennifer Connelly played an adequate smart lady. Jaden Smith showed his ability to stand with his adult counterparts and not be overshadowed in the least. It was also a pleasant surprise to see John Cleese and Kathy Bates.

As far as visuals, the orbs are rather interesting and the fly shaped nanobots that go about devouring the land are worth the price of your theater ticket. However, I would advise waiting to see it on DVD.

The ending was a big let down and not just to me. As we sat, wondering what had gone wrong, I heard comments from exiting audience members that ranged from unconvincing to anticlimactic.

The end of the movie was a call to action. A challenge to the audience. I will deal with the ending of the movie more in a separate post.

So who is right about this movie?

Was it good or anticlimactic? Honestly, we post are. This film is like music in a particular genre. If you like this sort of movie, you will love it. If you don’t, this movie is not for you.

I have read many reviews, and in the majority of them, the reviewers either rejected the message, missed the message, or thought the film should not have been updated.

Roger Ebert approached the movie with certain preconceptions that kept him from seeing the message of the movie. It is clear from his review that he did not want to like the movie, and mocked Klaatu for having to learn the lesson of the film.

I would not recommend this movie to everyone, but I would say that there is a couple simple tests to see if you will like this movie:

Did you understand and enjoy the ending of Hedwig and the Angry Inch?

Did you enjoy Grave of the Fireflies?

Did you enjoy the work of Akira Kurosawa?

Have you ever enjoyed a book by James Joyce?

The fourth one is most important. Joyce believed that a good story should just hold up its object to be beheld by the audience neither pushing them towards or away from anything, and Kurosawa said that a film should have an immaculate reality, allowing the story to just happen without and over abundance of exposition.

Likes

Brilliant remake of the original movie:

Maintains Immaculate Reality

It’s true art where they bring us to static arrest and hold us there.

the message was not so much about ecological concerns but about societies solipsistic attitude (behaving like a spoiled little child with a me me me attitude) leading them to treat their environment as badly as they treat each other.

The great balance between the warning about societies current state and the hope of our capability of change.

Gort was really well done including a little joke about how he got his name.

The Ending: it shows the solution but does not show nor tell the audience that the solution happened it just ends leaving that conclusion up to the audience.

The acting was well done.

John Cleese was brilliant in his role, I wish they would have advertised this fact.

Keanu Reeves did a good job playing Klaatu

Dislikes / Concerns

the ending: I would have liked to hear Klatu give the ultimatum “It is no concern of ours how you run your own planet, but if you threaten to extend your violence, this Earth of yours will be reduced to a burned-out cinder. Your choice is simple: join us and live in peace, or pursue your present course and face obliteration. We shall be waiting for your answer. The decision rests with you.” Unfortunately if he had given this then there would have been complaints about it being cliché

The intro could have done without the first five minutes and just started with the present day. problems of the well written story.

The promotion of this film was poorly done, they advertised an action aliens bringing about the end of the world film when in reality this was a thoughtful Science Fiction social commentary film where a lot of the tension is cerebral instead of visual.

I could not hear the other classic line “Klaatu barada nikto!” They left the background noise too loud only Keanu Reeves’ mouth moves.

Dragonball Movie Delayed

Fox has moved the release of the live action Dragonball movie from August 15 this year to April 3 next year. They did not explain why, but maybe it has something to do with script rewrites now that the writers' strike has ended. Here is to a better movie.
Dragonball Movie Delayed